5 best, 5 worst cities for welcoming travelers

No. 1 most welcoming: New York. In the CouponCodesPro.com survey of 3,724 people who said they have visited at least 10 countries, New York City ranked as the one where they'd felt most welcome. "When people visit the city, I think many of them go with an image in their head of what to expect, based on what they’ve seen in films, but NYC really is far better in real life. There's a real sense of pride amongst those who live there," said George Charles, CouponCodesPro.comspokesman. less

No. 1 most welcoming: New York. In the CouponCodesPro.com survey of 3,724 people who said they have visited at least 10 countries, New York City ranked as the one where they'd felt most welcome. "When people ... more

Photo: Getty Images/Vetta

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No. 2. most welcoming: Beijing. The Chinese capital been called a lot of things, but "friendly" isn't often among them. Yet it scored second only to the Big Apple in a recent survey.

No. 2. most welcoming: Beijing. The Chinese capital been called a lot of things, but "friendly" isn't often among them. Yet it scored second only to the Big Apple in a recent survey.

No. 4 most welcoming: Amsterdam. The Dutch touch extends to making visitors welcome in their largest city.

No. 4 most welcoming: Amsterdam. The Dutch touch extends to making visitors welcome in their largest city.

Photo: Getty Images

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No. 5 most welcoming: Sydney. The Australian metropolis rated only slightly below Toronto and Amsterdam among global travelers for its friendliness.

No. 5 most welcoming: Sydney. The Australian metropolis rated only slightly below Toronto and Amsterdam among global travelers for its friendliness.

Photo: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

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No. 5 least welcoming: Tokyo. Could it be that the bustling streets of areas such as Shinjuku put off some global travelers? Only 3 percent named it least welcoming, but that was enough to make the top 5 of unfriendly cities. less

No. 5 least welcoming: Tokyo. Could it be that the bustling streets of areas such as Shinjuku put off some global travelers? Only 3 percent named it least welcoming, but that was enough to make the top 5 of ... more

Photo: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

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No. 4 least welcoming: Rome. Watch your step at the Spanish Steps — the Eternal City has a brusque element, according to a new survey of global travelers.

No. 4 least welcoming: Rome. Watch your step at the Spanish Steps — the Eternal City has a brusque element, according to a new survey of global travelers.

Photo: Getty Images

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No. 3 least welcoming: Barcelona. The Spanish city may be a popular destination, but lacks a welcoming vibe.

No. 3 least welcoming: Barcelona. The Spanish city may be a popular destination, but lacks a welcoming vibe.

Photo: Getty Images/RooM RM

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Least welcoming: 2. London. The city offers plenty for visitors to do, but clearly that's not enough to make them feel welcome there.

Least welcoming: 2. London. The city offers plenty for visitors to do, but clearly that's not enough to make them feel welcome there.

Photo: Getty Images

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Least welcoming: 1. Paris. Apparently the long-held stereotype about aloof Parisians still holds for some travelers.

Least welcoming: 1. Paris. Apparently the long-held stereotype about aloof Parisians still holds for some travelers.

Photo: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

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5 best, 5 worst cities for welcoming travelers

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Which is a friendlier city to visit: New York or Paris? Beijing or Barcelona? Some of the answers of a recent poll of global travelers—3,724 people ages 18 and over, all of whom said they had visited at least 10 different countries—may surprise you. See the photogallery above for their list of the five most welcoming and five least welcoming cities, in descending order from best to worst.

CouponCodesPro.com conducted the survey, which also found that 82 percent of respondents would return to the cities where they had been made to feel the most welcome. The remainder said they wouldn’t return, but only because they preferred not to visit the same destination wice.

The respondents appear to be travelers open to friendly overtures in general: 54 percent said they had made lifelong friends on their journeys. So did the hustle and bustle of city life play into unfavorable marks for some destinations? Not too much, since 66 percent of those surveyed also said they would rather travel to cities instead of beach resorts.

“We wonder if this is because once you’ve been to one beach resort, you’ve almost been to them all, as many seem the same,” said George Charles, spokesperson for CouponCodesPro.com. “However, when you visit a city, you’re surrounded by so much culture, heritage and a complete mix of people from all over the world that you’re bound to experience something new.”

What may be more telling is the wide spread of opinions. The most welcoming and least welcoming cities only gathered 11 and 13 percent of respective votes, and only one other city (the No. 2 most welcoming) had as many as 10 percent of votes — meaning up to 90 percent of the others surveyed didn’t find those cities all that bad.

Perhaps some travelers just caught certain metropolises having a bad day. I’ve been to six of the cities on the combined lists at least once—New York, Paris, Sydney, Amsterdam, London and Tokyo—and would have to swap some of them from the most to least welcoming list, or vice versa. In some case, repeat visits have erased earlier negative experiences, so I’m glad I had the chance to return. It’s tempting to judge an entire destination on one surly shopkeeper, an indifferent hotel clerk or indecipherable transit system, but it’s not really fair.

Where have you felt the most welcome or least welcome as a traveler? Please share your comments in the field below.